After having some time to themselves Kara could hear Charlie downstairs fussing and after glancing at the clock realized she was due for a nap and was likely fighting Alex because of everything that happened that day. Lena heard it too since it was loud enough for human ears and she rolled out of bed and began putting her clothes back on.
"I'll go calm Charlie down, you go shower."
"No, Lena let me handle getting her down for a nap. You've had a long day already." Lena nodded, "I have and so has she, even if she didn't see anything it was a lot for her little brain to absorb Kara. And maybe after almost dying in front of my baby I would feel safer if I was the one holding her right now." Lena didn't mean for it be such a pointed comment and Kara knew she didn't mean to suggest she wasn't safe with Kara or her family.
"Whatever you need is fine Lena, but just let me help too, ok? You don't have to do this alone." Lena sighed and pulled Kara toward her and let herself be held.
"I didn't mean to be short with you Kara. I just…"
"Lena after today, you don't have to explain wanting to be close to our child."
"I know, but you are her mom too, but I just…need to be close to her and feel she's ok. And when you've showered, and we're settled I want time with both my girls. Ok?" Kara smiled and kissed Lena before pulling away.
"Don't have to ask me twice. I will join you all downstairs in a bit." Lena nodded and as Kara went into the bathroom, Lena slipped out of the room and headed downstairs and entered the living room to see Alex walking around the open space between the kitchen and living room with Charlie in her arms, still fussing.
"Hey Charlie, its ok. Grandma is almost down making lunch for you and I bet that'll make you feel a bit better huh? Then maybe you'll want a nap, cuz I know you are tired sweet girl. You and mama had a long day huh? But don't worry, Elsa and Aunt Alex made sure that nothing happened to my girls. No ma'am." Charlie snuggled into Alex's chest, but still was fussing so Lena soaked in the moment before making her presence known.
"How about I tag in?" Alex turned around and Charlie instantly threw out her arms for Lena, "mama!" Lena smiled and accepted the toddler from Alex, offering Charlie a kiss as she did.
"Hi baby, were you being good for Aunt Alex?"
"Charlie good girl, missed mama." Lena smiled and looked at Alex.
"She was great, just a little fussy and I think she wanted you and Kara, but otherwise she was great. Mom is making us lunch so maybe some food will help her settle and then I am guessing she is overdue for a nap." Lena checked her watch and nodded, "she is, so thank you for taking care of her while Kara and I took a little break, I told her to run through a quick shower and then join us."
Alex smiled and nodded, "smart, wouldn't want my mother to notice you both had sex hair." Lena blushed a deep red and realized in that moment that her hair was down which is rare unless she is at home.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Alex smirked, "you actually don't have sex hair, but you do have what I would guess is a love bite somewhere visible when your t-shirt moved as you held Charlie." Alex pointed to her own chest just about the line of her tank top and Lena looked sown and sure enough she had a small hicky that she hid quickly by pulling her shirt up higher.
"Ok, so maybe we had some us time that didn't involve sleeping. I really hope you didn't hear anything." Alex shook her head, "nah, you are fine. And Lena I am just kidding around. If I had had the day you had, I want to feel close of my wife too. I'm glad you had time for just you and Kara to be together and I hope she made you feel like you are back in a safe place."
Lena nodded, "I feel better. Just tired and don't like being far from Charlie for very long."
"Understandable. Oh and the lab tech texted me and said they sent you lab results to your email. They said nothing popped as dangerous levels or showing illness, but we figured it would make Kara feel better and you could give it to your doctor if you want them to know about the passing out stuff." Lena nodded and fished her phone out of her pocket and opened her emails, but was distracted when trying to put Charlie in her highchair at the table.
"There we go happy girl; you sit right next to mama." Lena buckled her in and gave her one of her toys to play with while they finished lunch. Alex joined her at the table and placed coffee in front of Lena before sipping on her own and sitting on the other side of Lena. Lena found the email Alex was talking about and wanted to confirm that her basic levels where fine despite having lost consciousness that day. Lena scrolled through the results and paused toward the bottom of the page. Lena didn't realize she had been quiet for so long until Alex spoke up.
"Hey, Lena, you ok? You haven't touched your coffee and went kind of space cadet on me there." Lena snapped back to reality and without thinking much of it, and without looking up from her phone, pushed the mug gently back towards Alex.
"I don't think I should drink that Alex." Alex was confused. In all her time knowing Lena Luthor, never once did she see the CEO turn down caffeine.
"Why shouldn't you drink it? I know it's not the fancy stuff at your house, but it'll keep you awake." Lena smiled and nodded. "Alex this could be espresso straight from Rome and I still shouldn't drink it." Lena looked up at Alex and with a facial expression that gave nothing away she calmly asked, "tell me, when you run a blood panel in women, what's the normal level of hCG you would expect to find?"
Alex didn't have to think long, "somewhere between 5 and 10 mIU/mL usually."
Lena nodded calmly and gently placed her phone in front of Alex, "that is what I thought, so then I am correct in thinking that my level being over 400 might indicate something significant?" Alex normally very stoic face dropped as she grabbed the phone and looked at the line Lena was referring to. Alex didn't know exactly what to say and the first thing out of her mouth was less than poetic.
"Holy shit. Lena, that means your…"
"Pregnant. And that is why I cannot drink this." Lena pushed the mug toward Alex, this time with a rather wide grin plastered across her face. Alex put the phone down and stood up, pulling Lena with her and into a rather aggressive hug.
"Holy crap, Lena. This is amazing. I didn't know you had tried again after you got Charlie."
"We tried every month since she came home, just assuming it would take a while. I never thought anything would take until at least Christmas. I was sort of thinking it would never happen. Guess I was wrong." Alex gave Lena another squeeze of a hug before pulling back.
"You guys deserve it Lena. No kid could have better parents. Kara will go nuts; this is awesome." Lena had to admit, with all that had happened today, this type of news was more than welcomed.
"How should I tell her?" Lena thought internally 'that is if she didn't hear this conversation from the shower'. They were interrupted when Eliza set food down for Charlie and put sandwiches on the table for the adults.
"How should you tell who what?" Lena looked to Alex who shrugged her shoulders. Lena realized there was no point in hiding it if Alex knew and they could help her come up with ideas to help tell Kara.
"I had some blood work done at the DEO when they brought me and Charlie in and they just sent me my results. Apparently, my hCG is over 400." Lena never appreciated having other doctors in her family because she didn't have to keep repeating the word pregnant around her toddler who loved repeating new words she learned. Eliza instantly teared up and wrapped her arms around Lena and even Lena would admit that this hug felt different than when Alex hugged her. Lena never thought of having this moment with her mother because her birth mother never lived long enough to see it and Lilian was many things, but excited over babies was not one of them. So she soaked up the warmth and absolute joy she felt emanating from her mother-in-law as she held her, overjoyed at the prospect of another grandchild.
"Lena, honey that is wonderful. I am so happy for you, you and Kara both." Lena pulled away and dabbed her eyes to brush tears away. "Thank you. I need to figure out how to tell Kara, assuming she hasn't been listening from upstairs."
Charlie chose that moment to make noise, clearly not happy with the adults not given her their full attention.
"Momma, paint." Lena looked behind her and had to laugh. Charlie had managed to get some of the avocado Eliza had given her on her hand and was fingerpainting with it, only occasionally putting any of it in her mouth. Lena reached over and cleaned the toddler's hand and handed her a spoon which Charlie started to use to feed herself now that she had her mother's attention. As Lena finished cleaning up, an idea hit her, and she turned around to Alex.
"I think I have an idea. But I would need you guys to distract Kara for a little while later. Like making her help with dinner or something." Lena briefly explained her idea for telling Kara and Alex agreed that she and Kara would make dinner and pitch it to her in a way that would be less likely to raise suspicion. They group of them forced themselves to settle down and eat so that Kara didn't come down to tears and excited grins. When Kara did come downstairs with wet hair and a fresh pair of clothes on she offer Lena and kiss and kissed Charlie on her cheek.
"How are all my favorite girls doing?"
"Mommy, Charlie eat 'cado." Kara smiled, "you are eating avocado, oh my goodness such a big girl feeding yourself."
"First she made a mess with it and claimed she was fingerpainting so we might want to channel that into some real finger painting, so we don't always end up with her painting her highchair with food. What do think monkey, should you and mama finger paint later?"
"Paint with mama." Charlie clapped her hands excitedly and she continued to feed herself. Kara smiled and sat down at the table and dug into a sandwich.
"That sounds like a fun afternoon with Mama, maybe Mommy and Elsa will snuggle on the couch while you work on it. Give our brave girl some belly rubs."
"Actually, I was thinking that you and I could settle the longest running argument we've ever had." Alex threw out the bait knowing Kara would take it. Kara thought for a moment and responded with, "which DA was hotter in law-and-order SVU?"
Alex got this dead serious look on her face, "you know damn well we settled that 6 years ago and we agreed it was Cabot."
"You agreed it was Cabot, I stand by what I said Alex." Alex rolled her eyes and Lena stifled a laugh.
"No moron, I said the longest standing argument." Kara connected the pieces and knew what Alex was referring to.
"Oh you wanna throw down that hard? Fine, let's do it. Grab your keys, were going to the store and I am gonna kick your…"
"Language." Lena and Eliza bother chimed in to remind Kara that young ears were listening. Kara stopped herself and Alex grabbed her keys and went upstairs to grab her wallet.
"Before you go, I have an idea of what to paint with Charlie and I need your handprint." Eliza found some art supplies she had tucked away for when Kara visited and wanted to paint, offered Lena a piece of paper and quickly put some paint into a paper plate. Kara gently painted her hand blue before pressing it against the paper and giving Charlie and Lena a quick kiss before washing off her hand.
"Ok my loves, you have fun painting and no wild parties with grandma ok. Aunt Alex and I will be back in a while." Alex came rushing down the stairs, playfully taunting Kara to the point where she ran after her sister and both of them got in the car and left. Lena looked at Eliza surprised, "what is it that they tore out of here so fast to get from the store? What could possibly make them want to compete this seriously?"
Eliza pinched the bridge of her nose and smiled, "mac and cheese."
"I'm sorry are you telling me that my wife is ready to throw hands with Alex over who makes better mac and cheese."
"They have had this argument since they were teenagers and every time my kitchen looks like a bomb went off and they never agree on who wins." Lena had to laugh because of all the things siblings could fight over she felt that this was one argument that seemed to be unique to the Danvers family. Lena found herself wishing that she had those moments with Lex, but in her heart she knew that those things didn't exist because of Lex, not because of her. Lena helped Eliza clean up from lunch and then went about working with Charlie on their little surprise for Kara.
They finished the gift for Kara and Eliza took it to her room to let it dry out of Kara's line of sight. They spent the remainder of the time the sisters were at the store letting Charlie fingerpaint whatever pattern and picture she wanted. Soon they heard the car pull up and the unmistakable sound of the girls fussing at each other could be heard as they neared the door. Each sister walked in holding a few bags of groceries and rushed to the kitchen where Eliza caught them before they started.
"Listen. That last time you two did this, you didn't speak for 2 days and left my kitchen a mess. You are both doing your own dishes, or I promise I will ground you both and you better believe I still can." Both girls nodded and agreed to clean up their own mess and that they wouldn't get too aggressive, if for no other reason because Charlie was around and Kara didn't want to yell at Alex in front of her kid, even if it was all a harmless joke. Lena put Charlie down for a nap and sat with Eliza in the living room, with Elsa between them on the couch and they both watched and listened as Kara and Alex fussed at each other as they cooked.
"Did they really not talk for two days last time?" Eliza smiled and nodded. "Stubborn pride runs through both their veins, regardless of genetics. I don't even remember who said what, but boy was that fight something to see. They made up of course, they always do. Something you'll learn as Charlie grows up. All kids are stubborn, but the ones that got dealt a hard hand, well they tend to have a bit of a rougher exterior because the world made them grow one. Alex is a clone of her father, so she comes by it honestly, but Kara…well Kara and you, and my guess Charlie, all had the world sort of dump hardship at your feet when you were children."
Lena mused about what Eliza said, "of all the things I would call Kara, rough exterior is nowhere on the list."
Eliza smiled, "maybe not in the way we traditionally think, no. But think about how long it took for you two to come together, the time it took for her to open up. That's what Kara's looks like. She combats all that darkness by being, if anything, overly happy, but when the world kicks dirt in her face, that 13-year-old girl who showed up at my house that day comes out fighting and it isn't always rational or pretty."
"Why are you telling me this? We've been together so long, and I've seen her response to things." Eliza nodded, "true, but what happened today, hits a different vein than what you have seen before. Someone threatened her family, again and once again, she had no power to stop it. Her dog and her sister stopped her from losing you all. That is not sitting well with her, I promise, and not just for the reasons you think. So she may be a bit more protective and fawn over you a bit and it might even get annoying, but it's because her stubborn pride won't let her feel that vulnerability again. So it may be up to you to remind her that, vulnerability is not bad, and she may be a superhero, but at home, you and the kids, you all just need Kara; not Supergirl." Lena nodded, because in her heart she knew that Eliza was right: after today she would need to remind Kara that the world isn't always kind or safe, but that her family needs Kara Danvers, not Supergirl.
Lena and Eliza mindlessly chatted and watched some TV while the iron chefs battled it out in Eliza's kitchen. Eventually, Charlie woke up and when Lena brought her down she seemed a little out of sorts and instead of clinging to Lena, she kept calling for Kara. She, of course, only had to call once before her mother was in front of Lena with her arms out.
"What is wrong baby girl? Do you wanna come watch mommy beat Aunt Alex in a cooking competition?" Charlie clapped her hands and reached out for Kara who gently pulled her against her body before looking to Lena.
"You ok if she sits in her highchair while we finish? Cuz I can come hang out in here." Kara knew Lena wanted to be near Charlie earlier and didn't want Lena's anxiety to spike just because Charlie woke up wanting Kara.
"And abandon your quest to beat your sister at cooking something that comes from a box? What kind of wife would I be to stand in the way of my wife attaining such greatness?" Lena winked at Kara who quickly returned to the kitchen with Charlie in her arms, the toddler babbling the whole way. Lena returned to the couch and turned her attention to Elsa, showering the dog with attention and praise for her heroics of the day.
Eventually, Alex announced they would be ready to serve dinner in about 15 minutes, prompting Eliza and Lena to set the table and for Lena to beg Kara to at least cook a vegetable to balance the richness of pasta and cheese mixtures. Once they sat down, Alex explained the rules: blind taste test to both Lena and Eliza to see whose dish was better. Eliza rolled her eyes, clearly not believing she was roped into this again. They dug into the small sample they were each given.
"Ok which one is better?" Lena thought for a moment and pointed to a particular dish and Eliza hated to do it, but pointed to the same one; knowing one of her kids was about to be pissed.
Alex all but jumped in place and got into Kara's personal space, "ha, no hung jury this time baby sister, I win." Kara's ego wanted to lash out and dish it back to Alex, but she caught Lena's glance which directed her to Charlie. A silent warning to not start a fight for no reason in front of the baby.
"Whatever. Yours has more expensive cheese. Mine is more budget conscious."
"Your wife is loaded: the hell are you budgeting for?" This time it was Eliza who interrupted and not at all subtly. "Alex, cool it and be a gracious winner. Now serve the rest of dinner and everyone sit down." Alex settled quickly and she and Kara quickly served dinner and sat down, with Kara helping Charlie to eat her food as well. When they were almost done eating, Lena could tell that Kara was still nursing a bruised ego, so she felt this was a perfect time.
"Kara, would it lessen the sting of losing to Alex if I gave you a present?"
Kara perked up slightly, "what kind of present?"
Lena rolled her eyes, "the kind that'll hopefully make you feel like not fighting your sister less." Kara nodded and Lena excused herself to go get the painting from Eliza's room. When she returned she stood in front of Kara and out of the corner of her eye she sees Alex discreetly holding her phone: clearly recording the moment.
"So Charlie and I did an art project when you both left and that is what we needed you hand print for earlier." Lena handed the paper to Kara who made a big deal of how perfect it was for Charlie.
"Monkey, did you and mommy make this for me?" Charlie clapped her hands and giggled, "mama Charlie paint hands." Kara smiled and kiss the baby, "that's right baby, you guys painted with your hands. So let's see, we have mommy's handprint in blue, mama's in green, Charlie's in red and then is the other one supposed to be Elsa?" Kara looked at the painting and was truly lost, but wasn't going to make Charlie think she didn't think the painting was lovely, because it was.
"Not Elsa. Mama said her leg was too owie for painting."
"Then what is the other hand for Charlie?"
"Baby."
"Charlie, honey, you are our baby." The toddler shook her head and reached out for Lena who was on the other side of her highchair, "Charlie big girl, new baby in mama tummy." Lean smiled because that was how she had explained it to Charlie hours earlier. Everyone watched Kara absorb the information and Kara looked back anf forth between the painting a Charlie.
"What new baby, monkey mama doesn't have…" Kara trailed off, clearly starting to realize what she was being told and looking up at Lena, with tears already streaming down her face she managed to choke out, "she's not kidding right Lena. Please tell me she's not kidding." Lena shook her head and stepped next to where Kara was still sitting, "no darling, she's not. Mama does have a new baby right in here." Lena grabbed Kara's hand and pressed it against her still very flat stomach and the second Kara's hand touched Lena she burst into full on tears and pressed her face into the fabric of Lena's shirt, holding herself there as long as she could to absorb the information that her wife was in fact pregnant. Lena was crying, hell everysone was, but she gently ran her fingers through Kara's hair until the hero looked up.
"We're gonna have another baby?"
"We are going to have another baby. Think you can handle another side kick in training?" Kara stood up and pulled Lena into a deep kiss that Alex normally would have made fun of…but not tonight. When they broke apart, Kara had to widest most insane grin on her face.
"I want an army of sidekicks so hell yeah I can handle it." Kara picked up Charlie and tickled her gently, "what do you think monkey? Think we should have a baby come and be your brother or sister?"
Charlie smiled wide, "baby play with Charlie and Elsa." It was then the reality of the day hit Kara again, but with greater force. Had Lena been hurt or worse, it wouldn't have just been Lena she lost, but possibly both her children. Kara smiled and kissed the toddler before going over to where Elsa had been set up to be comfy during the day and again she dropped to her knees in front of the dog, gently grabbing her fur and pressing their foreheads together.
"You have no idea how grateful I am to you. You didn't just save our girls. You saved our new baby and I don't think I could ever thank you for that. You are my best girl and I love you so much." The dog licked Kara's face and Lena let them have their moment, because honestly, Kara was right: they owed their safety to the dog Lena always told herself she didn't need as adult. The same dog who sheds everywhere, who watches their daughter like a hawk and who barks at the wind like it makes a difference. That same dog made it possible for this moment where Lena, Kara, and their family got to celebrate a new life and not mourn the loss of another. And Kara was correct again: they owed that dog so much and Lena fully intended to make sure that that night, Elsa would get a nice steak because, well how else do you say thanks to your dog?
